Training Sakura
by Kalira69
Summary: Two members of Team Seven broke away on their own, and in the aftermath there remains only one thing to be settled. . . That one thing is not what anyone expected. With Sakura as his sole remaining student, Kakashi settles in to train her proprly, determined to help her achieve her ambitions as a ninja and become a great one. (Canon divergence.) (Updated more reliably on AO3.)
1. Taking Responsibility

I love the idea of Sakura and Kakashi being friends/close, which will - naturally - be the main focus of this story. There may or may not be ships later in the story, but even if so they will not become the main focus. And it won't be Kakashi/Sakura - not in this story, where he becomes her mentor and proper sensei.

I'm aware Kakashi was something of a disaster as a sensei but given his past leading up to it I think that's only to be expected . . . and I think he could have done better, if he'd tried a bit more, been pushed out of his rut, and been given a chance to do so before things with Team Seven . . . exploded.

So here's my exploration on what could happen if he'd been pushed into it, after Team Seven exploded.

* * *

Kakashi paused where he was perched on the low wall bounding the hospital roof, having been about to leap for a lower level on his way across the village.

Gai beckoned, rather than chase after him, and Kakashi sighed, slipping down silently and crossing towards his friend. "Yo, Gai." He dipped his head.

"Kakashi!" Gai slung an arm around his shoulders, squeezing hard enough to make them crumple inwards beneath the force. Kakashi bowed with it, familiar with the gesture and not particularly bothered by the pressure. "I . . . am sorry about your students." he said more quietly.

Kakashi swallowed, wincing. "It's. . ." he began, then trailed off, shaking his head.

"Ah, all is not lost, is it, Rival?" Gai said cheerfully, and Kakashi pulled away and looked up at him, one hand rubbing across his masked face. He hadn't shaved since he'd left for his mission and his stubble caught at the inside of the fabric. He tugged it lightly outwards to resettle it and shook his head.

"Gai, I left for a mission I didn't even want to take because of my duty to my students as the jounin-sensei to a three-man genin team. I returned to find I now have _no_ students." Kakashi ran his fingers through his hair and slumped a little lower. He knew he had not been . . . a great teacher, but he had _tried_ , once he'd been cornered into taking them he had wanted to do right by the brats even if he wasn't quite sure what that was, and . . . they'd been _his_ brats. Kakashi _cared_ about them.

"I am truly sorry about Sasuke-kun, Rival." Gai said, in the soft tone Kakashi knew most people couldn't imagine coming from him. "And Naruto-kun has chosen his path to follow his own rival, it seems."

Kakashi rubbed his eye. That wasn't making him feel much better. And much as he bitched about Gai and the _Eternal Rival_ nonsense . . . what Naruto was chasing, no matter that his goal was to return Sasuke home, not join him, was ever so much worse and more dangerous.

"However, will you abandon Sakura-chan because her teammates have done so?" Gai said, and Kakashi twitched. "You promised to train her as much as they, and surely she only needs you even more after her teammates have left her behind."

Kakashi turned to look at Gai. "I-" He rubbed his face again. "I'm not good at this, Gai. She. . . She would be better off being shuffled to someone else's team." The idea that he had so completely failed his students stung, but Kakashi wouldn't try to keep the last of them with him to salve his own aching failure. Not when it would be to her detriment.

" _You_ promised to train her." Gai said firmly, his eyes hard. "You are a good ninja and a good _man_ , Kakashi." He paused for a moment, but continued before Kakashi could argue that point. "You know what it is like to lose all of your team. To be left behind, alone."

Kakashi swallowed hard. He did, and Sakura had been. . .

Gai was too kind to mention Minato-sensei directly, but Kakashi's mind flashed back to when Rin had died and he bleakly wondered what would have happened to him if he'd lost Minato _then_. Been pushed off. Worse than it would have been later, he supposed. It had been shattering to lose Minato as it was, although at least he had known his sensei would have stayed had he had any . . . choice.

"I'll try." Kakashi said, because he was _terrified_ of what he would do, after seeing the wreck he'd made of training his genin to begin with, but that was on him, it wasn't Sakura's fault. And Gai was right. Kakashi had a duty to his last remaining student, and if she _wanted_ him to teach her . . . then Kakashi would teach her. "I will ask her what she wants." he added, shaking his head as Gai scowled. "If she truly wants another sensei, Gai, I would not blame her . . . and I'll find her one myself. The best I can."

He wouldn't abandon Sakura unless she wished him to leave her to another sensei.

Kakashi couldn't really imagine why she would want to stay with him, he thought grimly, but it would be her choice. He submitted to Gai's effusive embrace and smiled faintly as he propped his chin on Gai's shoulder. "Thanks, Gai." he said softly, and Gai hummed, squeezing him a little tighter, making him huff out a breathless laugh.

* * *

Kakashi knew he needed to deal with his remaining genin quickly, but going directly to find her when he was fresh out of the hospital and just returned from an S-class was not the best idea. He had given it two days, coming back to equilibrium and quietly getting a feel for how the entire group of age-mates had been handling things since the failure to bring Sasuke back and Naruto's departure.

Kakashi glanced across the street at the house from his place lounging behind a roof promontory. He knew precisely where Sakura lived, of course - he had made certain he knew everything he could about his genin, even if he pretended to ignorance, as soon as he had accepted them as his team. Here . . . was perhaps not the best place to speak to her, though, he thought. And not only because her very civilian parents would likely get involved. He glanced at Sakura's window, then slipped away.

Instead Kakashi made his way to the comfortable tree near the Academy - no one would look for him there for a mission, and he wasn't going to go and _ask_ for one until he knew one way or another if he did in fact still have one student. He settled in with his book, though his mind was busy with other considerations as he absently turned the pages.

Later, after lunch, he headed for the area of training grounds two through eight, and cast wide a sensory net. There, the contained and efficient little flare that was Sakura - alone, her chakra roiling with emotional distress.

Kakashi took a moment to brace himself, then dropped down out of the trees and sauntered onto the field, watching Sakura lash out rhythmically at a post.

"Maa. . . Not bad, though you turn your elbow too far up on the left strike." Kakashi commented, and Sakura whirled on him, a kunai held high in one hand. She lowered it almost immediately, flushing, and bowed.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura straightened slowly, looking up at him. "What- Ano. . . What brings you . . . here?" Her bright eyes were not so bright now, and she couldn't quite meet his gaze, her expression downcast.

Kakashi owed Gai a nice dinner. Kakashi may or may not have been the best teacher - or even very good with his genin - but Sakura clearly felt abandoned in his absence, not well rid of him. It had been cowardly of him, Kakashi could admit at least to himself, to leave her be instead of going to her, to be sure of what she wanted.

"Sakura." Kakashi said softly, and she raised her head a little more, skinny shoulders straightening. "I am sorry I was not here."

Sakura's eyes widened, then grew damp as she looked away again. "Oh! I- I know you had better-"

"I was assigned a mission, and I couldn't refuse it." Kakashi said honestly, interrupting her. "I would have, if I could, to stay. I am _very sorry_ I was not here for you, _all of you_ , when I should have been. As your sensei it is unforgivable to have left you behind when you needed me." His throat tightened on the last words.

Sakura took a quick, sharp little breath. Kakashi rested a hand on her shoulder and it shook under his touch. He squeezed gently.

"I came here to find you." Kakashi said softly. "It is time to decide what happens with Team Seven." He forced down the tremor in his own voice.

". . .sensei?" Sakura said uncertainly.

"Sasuke has . . . made his choice to leave us all," Kakashi said, slow and even, "there is little to be done about that. It seems Naruto has chosen a new sensei for himself and I hope his path does well for him."

Sakura nodded, swallowing visibly.

"So. What would you choose?" Kakashi asked, lifting her chin with a light brush of his fingertips before dropping his hand.

"I- Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura said uncertainly, but her eyes were a little brighter.

"As your sensei it is up to me to choose what path best suits your talents," Kakashi explained, "but I will not choose _for_ you. As the last," his voice hitched, "last remaining member of a three-man genin team, you would either be shuffled to a proper team under someone else's tutelage, or kept on to be trained one-on-one by me."

Sakura looked hopeful for a moment, then flinched. "Who- Who would you choose for me?" she asked. "I- I always wanted to study a wider range of ninjutsu, so perhaps-"

"Sakura." Kakashi interrupted her, dropping to a crouch so she couldn't avoid his eye so easily. "If you wish to join another team I will find you a good- a better sensei to take you on, one that can teach you all you want to learn. But I am not sending you away. If you would rather take the chance on me . . . I would be honoured to keep you as my student."

Sakura went utterly still. "You- I can stay with you?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"Maa, you won't find another sensei who knows more ninjutsu, anyway." Kakashi said wryly. He hadn't known of that particular ambition; she'd never spoken of it in his hearing.

He twitched as Sakura threw herself at him, raising his arms and catching a slender bundle of shaking tears and warm, sweaty child. "Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura clung to his shoulder and Kakashi couldn't remember the last time someone had sounded _so pleased_ , so innocently so, just to be near him. He patted her back comfortingly. "Thank you, Kaka-sensei." she mumbled into the thick shoulder of his vest.

"Thank you for trusting me, Sakura-chan." Kakashi replied softly, rubbing her thin back with one hand. She felt not unlike a half-grown, nervous puppy. With that thought he instinctively held her a little tighter and she took a deeper, shuddering breath and settled a bit. "I am sorry I did not live up to it before. I promise, for as long as I may, and as long as you wish, I will do my best for you as your sensei."

Sakura sniffed quietly and curled her fingers into his vest, holding on tight. Kakashi rubbed her back and let her cling, balanced on the balls of his feet with her weight resting awkwardly across his chest and one knee.

* * *

Chapter two should be up sometime in the next week or two, but I do not have a posting schedule planned; I have only a loose and very spotty outline for what I want to do with this story. Each chapter will alternate POVs between Kakashi and Sakura. (There will also be some side stories from assorted outside POVs; I'll note in the nearest chapter when a side story falls in the timeline of the main story.)


	2. Staying with Kakashi

Sakura sat neatly on the grass of the training ground where Kakashi-sensei had left her for a little while. She was . . . hopeful, though, as she couldn't remember being for. . .

What felt like a long time.

Sakura sniffed and then wiped the last remnants of her tears away and got up, straightening her hair and dress. She washed her face and arms in the stream that ran alongside several of the training grounds here, then glanced at the post she had been pitting herself against earlier before looking up at the sky, slowing fading into pinks and oranges above the trees.

She headed home without another look back, a smile tugging at her lips. Tomorrow morning she was supposed to meet Kakashi-sensei for proper training and a real lesson again. No more practising on her own and _knowing_ it wouldn't help her get better - at least, not much, not the ways she _needed_ to.

. . .well, it _was_ Kakashi-sensei. Sakura figured she might be working for a while on her own in the morning before he actually showed up, not matter that he'd told her to meet him. But he _would_ be there. Kakashi-sensei was always late, yes, but he was always _there_ if he said he would be. Eventually.

Threading her way across the training grounds back towards the village proper, Sakura suddenly bounced a little on her toes and then took off into a run. She'd told her mother she would try not to be late for dinner again tonight after yesterday. She had made her way home long past dark - she'd spent too long working out and trying to suppress her fears and worried tears.

It wound up being a good thing she'd hurried - even aside from the rapidly-falling night, she reached her street just in time to see Ino walking up to her doorstep. Her brows rose, but she trotted up to join her friend with a curious sound and tilt of her head.

Ino sniffed and scoffed and waved away Sakura's questions, but her concerned onceover and deft avoidance of an explanation when Sakura's mother asked. . . Well, Sakura did _know_ Ino.

"Thanks for worrying about me," Sakura said softly behind her mother's back as she led the way into the dining room, hugging Ino impulsively - and although Ino made a face at Sakura's sweaty state, she returned the hug just as firmly, "you don't need to, though. I'm . . . doing better now."

Ino hummed and gave her a narrow-eyed look of suspicion, but had no time to ask anything before they sat down to dinner with Sakura's parents.

"Haruno-san, may I stay tonight? I've missed Sakura so much lately, you know?" Ino said, affecting her sweetest, most airheaded expression.

Sakura smothered a laugh and gave a tiny nod when her mother looked over in question. Sakura smiled slightly. Ino really _was_ welcome. And good thing, because Ino was also _very bad_ at taking no for an answer, especially when she was worried.

Straight after dinner, Ino followed Sakura upstairs to her room and her mother - looking a little relieved - bid them both not to stay up too late with an expression that was more amused than warning, then left them alone. Ino immediately fixed Sakura with a firm look and she laughed a little awkwardly, rubbing her face and waving a hand at her bed in invitation as she sank into the chair at her vanity to . . . explain the new difference in herself. Ino settled on the bed but didn't leave off her fierce look.

Her eyes rapidly widened, though, as Sakura told her about Kakashi finding her on the training fields, what he had said, the promise he had given and the choice Sakura had made. Day recounted, she lifted her jaw a little and nodded firmly, once, then turned to face the mirror, drawing a deep, calming breath as she met her own eyes for a moment. Settling herself. Then she looked past her own reflection and back at her best friend.

Ino was fiddling with her hair, having pulled the neat cover off her bun as Sakura spoke, letting the short ponytail fall free. She tugged at her bangs, making a thoughtful sound.

"Okay, but no offense," Ino dropped her hands and turned to face Sakura fully, tucking her legs up alongside her right hip, " _why_ would you trust him again? Why not get a new sensei? Especially if he _offered_ to help find you one?"

Sakura set her mouth firmly and shook her head. "I don't _want_ a new sensei. He's- He's always late and he makes terrible excuses and he's not- But you weren't on our missions, you didn't _see_." He also hadn't _abandoned_ them - her - after the Exams had turned into a disaster, as Sakura had quietly wondered; he had been _ordered_ away. Knowing that . . . helped. Sakura was glad he had told her. Thought she wondered a little if he had been _supposed_ to and suspected maybe not.

"So tell me." Ino said, twisting her body and sprawling out on her belly.

Sakura ruffled her own hair and neatened her hitai-ate through it, then turned back to face Ino properly again rather than watching her through the mirror. "I don't think Kakashi-sensei knew what to do with- with us, but he tried, and he _took care of us_. When a mission went sideways he asked us what we wanted to do, he didn't just order us unless it was an emergency or it really was beyond us - sometimes then, really - and no matter what he would have done _anything_ to protect us. I _saw_ that."

Ino's expression softened a little, and she nodded.

Sakura quietly pushed away the memory of Zabuza's terrifyingly heavy killing intent, enough to make her nearly blind, too rabbit-scared even to tremble as she clutched a kunai in both hands - and then that smothering weight suddenly cut by a powerful crackle of opposing chakra as Kakashi-sensei turned to smile and promise almost carelessly that he would protect them. Doing just that as Zabuza attacked.

They might have saved _him_ as well, in that battle, but Kakashi-sensei had stepped in and done his best to spare them - to send them away before they could get hurt in something that was far beyond what they were ready to handle.

It was only one of several memories in which Kakashi-sensei had interposed himself unwaveringly between any one or all three of them and harm.

"Besides," Sakura straightened her shoulders and pressed on, "I want to learn ninjutsu, a _lot_ of them, all the interesting ones I can." She smiled slightly. "Remember, Ino?" she asked softly. She had mostly forgotten herself, for a while, but it was a goal she'd set, _wished for_ , since she was very little. Ino knew that, had listened to her when she talked about wanting to learn all the jutsu there were when they were small.

Ino's eyes widened, but after a moment she nodded shallowly.

"Kakashi-sensei knows more jutsu than _anyone_ and he's going to teach me." She set her jaw. She was _going_ to learn and she was _going_ to be a great ninja and it had nothing to do with matching the boys or catching up to them, it was _Sakura's_ dream, the one that had first pushed her to join the Academy, even with her confused parents fretting over the idea of her becoming a ninja.

Though Sakura's visits to Lee in the hospital had begun half out of guilt, they had talked a lot - Sakura had found she . . . actually rather liked the odd, incredibly determined boy. Their long conversations about goals and dreams and achievements had reminded Sakura, a little shamefully, of the dream and ambition she had somehow forgotten. The drive that had originally made her push to be as good as - _better than_ \- the Clan children in her class.

She'd made it, too, at least in some ways - graduated the Academy as top kunoichi in her year, nearly made it through the Chuunin Exam on her first try with less than a year as a genin, stood her ground against enemy nin and even a _legendary_ nuke nin. Sakura refused to forget that. She _was_ capable of being as good and _better_ than any of the Clan ninja, and Kakashi-sensei was going to train her and teach her, and Sakura wouldn't let _anything or anyone_ distract her from her own goals any more.

They could worry about catching up to _her_ for once.

"You look determined, forehead girl." Ino said, and Sakura shifted to glare at her, but Ino's eyes were warm and a small smile played about her lips.

Sakura sniffed. "I _am_." She grinned at Ino. "I told you; you don't need to worry about me any more. I'm . . . better, now."

"Good." Ino said succinctly. She rolled over and slid to the edge of the bed as Sakura rose. "I hate worrying." she added with a sniff, looking at Sakura with a lofty, disdainful expression. "It doesn't _suit_ me."

Sakura fell into giggles and tackled Ino back onto her bed, making her laugh even as she wrestled to get Sakura off her again.

* * *

Sakura was not even a little surprised to reach the little stone wall marking the edge of training ground thirteen at the specified time in the morning and find her sensei was not present. She yawned and hopped up onto the fence, aiming to seat herself on one of the taller posts to wait, then paused, looking down.

She leaned down and snagged the parcel that had been resting on the other side of the fence, on the grass. A few firm tugs unwound the soft pink furoshiki and Sakura eyed the book within curiously, plucking out the note that rested inside the cover as she moved to settle atop the post.

 _Sakura-  
I'll be a little late - my ninken seem to have fallen down a puddle and I'm afraid I'll have to go after them. Hopefully this will keep you occupied until I get there.  
Keep it._

It was 'signed' with a henohenomoheji, not that Sakura could have mistaken its author anyway, already rolling her eyes by the time she had reached _puddle_ in her sensei's note. She shook her head, laughing a little, and turned the book over, then stilled, eyes widening. It was a comparative treatise on the types of jutsu most common in each of the elemental nations. Sakura had never seen a copy before, not in the Academy or even when she was looking up jutsu and history in the shinobi library. Never seen anything _like_ as heavy on the topic, even.

She tucked her feet up, bracing the soles of her sandals against the side of the post beneath her, and opened the book.

* * *

Chapter three is in progress but I am not sure when it will be finished and ready to share. I'll get on it as soon as I can, but I can't make any promises on a date. However there will be a side story for this story (though set a good year or more in the future from this beginning) posted next week, as part of Sakura Month. (Which is one of the things that's been keeping me busy; I'll have a lot of new stories going up in December for that Event, though not quite one for every day.)


	3. Training Begins

Kakashi dropped out of the tree he'd been lounging in, watching from, with a small - admittedly fond - smile.

Sakura hadn't budged from her perch, and didn't now as he approached her, her attention fully riveted on the book spread out across her lap. It was cute. And they'd work on keener peripheral awareness later - couldn't be having his little student get so distracted by reading that she could be ambushed so easily, no matter what the pages she was so focused on bore. For now that focus was good, though.

She'd said she wanted to learn jutsu? A broad range, anything that was useful and interesting and . . . _possible_. Well . . . Kakashi could do that. And if she wanted to learn them, she would most definitely _learn_ , from the ground up.

Fortunate, Kakashi thought wanly, that she was a quick, clever thing. Kakashi knew the basics well but explaining them wasn't exactly his strong suit. It was a long, long time ago that he'd needed to even _think_ about most of what she would need to build the foundations for her desire to be a ninjutsu master.

After leaving her the day before - and going to treat Gai to the owed dinner and drinks for the metaphorical kick in the ass he'd given - Kakashi had spent most of his night indexing helpful books and reading them. His own old library, in his abandoned house; the public ninja library - it had been closed, but honestly, that was more of a suggestion for the place - and then he'd slipped into the official archives to check a few things.

Then the morning - after dropping off the gift and note for his student, who he knew would not be surprised by his absence - had been taken up by slyly picking the brains of a few people who were far better teachers than he.

Kakashi still wondered what had possessed the Sandaime to pull him from ANBU and almost directly after drop three new genin in his lap. What did he know about teaching brand new ninja? His only experience with teaching before had been hammering new ANBU recruits into workable teams. _Not_ the same. Hell, he had been leagues away from their level _as_ a genin - for the short time he'd kept that rank - and had no idea how to get them into shape as growing ninja from where they were fresh out of the Academy.

But Kakashi now had a young student - an apprentice, really, with only the one genin still attached to him - and he supposed it was time for him to figure out yet another new trick on the fly. He'd always been good at that, surely he could pull it off again. For the sake of his bright little student. He'd spent the hours since she had expressed her wish to stay with him, for _him_ to teach her, doing his best to prepare for doing just that.

"Sakura." Kakashi called, and she jumped, head flying up and glazed eyes searching for a moment as they focused. Then her eyes landed on him and she smiled, bright and big. It was . . . a little surprising.

"Sensei!" Sakura looked down at her book briefly, giving the open pages a stroke with one hand before closing it and leaping down from her perch. "Good morning!"

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow. "Morning, Sakura." he greeted. "What do you think of the book?" he asked, tilting his head a fraction. She bounced slightly and hugged it to her chest, biting at her lower lip, her smile still wide.

"All right, then." Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck and shifted a bit. "Let's go and see how you've been shaping up while I was gone."

Kakashi turned and started up the hill, heading deeper into training ground thirteen, and Sakura trotted along at his side, her new book still held close. Kakashi shifted a bit, lifting his left hand slightly, then held back, tucking both hands in his pockets.

"Thank you for the book, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said, easily keeping up with his longer strides at a comfortable trot. "It's fascinating!"

Kakashi smiled and reached out to pat her shoulder. "Good. If you want to be a jutsu master we're going to branch out from jutsu common in Hi no Kuni, and I think you're quick enough to do it soon - your control is naturally sharp, at least. Possibly the best natural control I've seen."

Sakura beamed at him, and Kakashi huffed. "We'll work on that as well. You can always get better, no matter where you begin. For now, put the book aside," she wrapped it back in the furoshiki and left it by the side of a boulder near the edge of the open field before following him, "and we'll go through the basics quickly, check where you are."

Sakura needed direction for what he wanted her to show him, but little correction as she went through each phase of it, answering his instruction promptly. Everything she'd learned in the Academy, everything she'd looked up and studied on her own, everything she'd picked up from Kakashi in his . . . admittedly lacklustre training and lessons before, even bits and pieces of things she had taken in from watching other teams train, or enemies she had fought against, all of it was stored neatly in her little pink head, behind those bright eyes. Kakashi praised her for it, honestly impressed and allowing it to show clearly as he patted her shoulder, and her eyes brightened even further.

Kakashi smiled and nudged her, guiding her into the beginnings of a new kata. Sakura listened attentively, mouth set with focus as she settled into the rhythm of it.

Once her movements began to smooth out, Kakashi left her to it and ran through one of his own favourite basic practise kata as he began quizzing her on what she'd shown him or recited for him already. Sakura slowed, distracted either by watching him or by thinking of her answers, and Kakashi clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Keep moving. Your body needs to learn the patterns, and you've already got them in there, your brain doesn't need to pay attention to it."

Sakura frowned slightly, her eyebrows drawing together, but she started moving again, and she resumed speaking at the same time. Her movements wobbled from time to time, but she continued with that same determined cast to her expression . . . until she suddenly stopped with a lost look.

Kakashi shifted in his kata, instead mirroring the one she was practising, but said nothing. After a moment Sakura, biting her lip and fidgeting, looked at him and tensed. She started to move again and smiled, lip still caught in her teeth. She'd remembered herself.

Kakashi cleared his throat.

"Ah!" Sakura's head flew up and she met his gaze, then pinked as she hurriedly picked up right where she had faltered.

As he listened to her rattle off theory and applications Kakashi felt guilty again for neglecting to pay much mind to her before. He had known she was smart, and good at figuring things out for herself, and he'd let her fall by the wayside trying to manage the boys. Though he hadn't realised _how_ smart she was, he thought, remembering the Chuunin Exams. Kakashi had been given the breakdown of Team Seven's performance in the written exam and been taken aback - the test given hadn't actually been their pass or fail, but Sakura had answered every question flawlessly, and without cheating. She had been knocked out of the Exams in a tie in the preliminaries, but she had stood up to a Clan heiress with a jutsu that _should_ have been incircumventable by someone at her level, and kept her head in that fight even while Ino lost hers. While _driving_ Ino to lose hers. Picking at spots she had clearly known would make Into angry - thoughtlessly angry.

Kakashi needed to find out how she had broken the Yamanaka shintenshin no jutsu, something that shouldn't have been possible at her level and a talent, whatever it was, that should be trained, but. . .

It could wait, for the moment. The Chuunin Exams were a raw spot for her perhaps even more than himself, and Kakashi wanted to let her get past the obvious feeling of abandonment he had inadvertently left her wallowing in for a time before bringing any of it back up. There were other things that needed focus as well, and for now he needed to finish mapping what she _already_ had in her head.

Kakashi kept close watch on Sakura as they worked through everything she knew piece by piece, and saw her flagging by the end of the day, but she never protested or asked for a break outside of his when he instructed her to them, even for lunch, nor asked to stop for the day before he called it himself. Kakashi patted her as she panted, slouched a little, at his side, waiting for her to catch her breath after her cool down.

"You did well today," Kakashi told her as they headed out of the training grounds, and she smiled, eyes sparkling again, "meet me here again tomorrow morning. We'll work through more of what you already know and building on it."

"Yes, sensei!" Sakura scooped up her book and hugged it to her again. "Thank you."

"Maa," Kakashi flapped a hand, "you've thanked me for the book. It's all right. I'm glad you're excited about it;" he added dryly, "we're going to fit most of it in your head."

Sakura bobbed her head happily at the half-warning, then paused and turned to face him as they reached the road. "Not just for the book, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said softly, her shoulders hunched. She ducked her head again, dipping into a shallow bow. "See you tomorrow!"

Kakashi blinked as he watched her trot off, then quickly used a shunshin to disappear himself, slipping into the branches. He didn't continue immediately, however, lingering just enough to be sure she was steady on her way home before leaving, turning over plans and musing on the breadth of and yet . . . startling lacks in Sakura's knowledge.

Kakashi had not expected her to have clan jutsu or training, he _knew_ she was civilian-born, but it occurred to him now that he hadn't considered the depths of what that left her lacking, even in those things that he expected to be pure basics. Things he didn't even remember learning were foreign to her.

Kakashi had a lot of work to do, figuring out how to pack the breadth of knowledge his apprentice would need into her head. Good that she was efficient at storing away information, almost as quickly, it seemed, as he could provide it to her - she would need the talent, and Kakashi intended to give her as much as he could, as quick as she could handle.


	4. A Proper Sensei

Sakura groaned silently as she wiggled into her shorts. She had woken up with most of her muscles _aching_. She wound her bandages and pouch into place on her thigh, then rolled her shoulders as she straightened. She didn't _think_ she had been slacking off, in her time training alone, but. . .

Her dress zipped on neatly, and Sakura picked up her hairbrush, watching herself in the mirror as she neatened her hair and fluffed her fringe absently. She hadn't even been _sparring_ yesterday, although Kakashi-sensei had kept her working until she was all but ready to beg a break repeatedly.

Every time, though, just when she thought she would _have_ to, even if it disappointed him, even if she fell short of what she _should_. . . Kakashi-sensei had called a break himself, or ordered her to change to a different, lighter exercise, or run off to get fresh water.

Tying her hitai-ate neatly on her head, Sakura grinned at herself. Perhaps she wasn't so far behind after all. And Kakashi-sensei had told her she did _well_ , had looked like he meant it, his eye warm when it wasn't closed with his hidden smile.

Sakura trotted downstairs to make up her bento for lunch and have a light breakfast before she headed off to meet her sensei at training ground thirteen, feeling purposeful and capable and . . . hopeful.

She felt a surge of warmth towards her old sensei, _not_ forgotten her after all, and now, it seemed, determined to train her into a proper ninja. Just the way she had hoped to be when she was a very little girl. Sakura hummed to herself and headed off on her way, breaking into an easy run a block away from her house.

Sakura hadn't brought her new book back with her this morning - it was lying safe on her nightstand, where she had put it after reading perhaps more of it than she should have last night at bedtime. Instead, she thought she would go through that new kata Kakashi-sensei had taught her yesterday while she waited for him. She was determined to prove that his praise had been _right_ , that she _was_ clever and she remembered everything important.

. . .that he should keep teaching her, as much and as fast as ever he could, and she would rise to it just as he asked.

Sakura ducked her head and barely slowed to hop over the fence - she realised that she didn't even know where or _if_ there was a gate or break in it - and continued up into the training ground proper on her own this time.

"Sakura-chan."

Sakura jumped, eyes widening, as she wheeled about and saw-

" _Kakashi-sensei?_ " Sakura yelped as Kakashi-sensei straightened from a graceful arch that looked like it extended too far to not be painful, looking at her with his hidden smile.

Was she late? She _couldn't_ be late! She'd looked at the time when she got up and as she was busy in the kitchen and she wouldn't have taken so long to get here even _walking_ , and she'd run most of the way, and-

"I've been waiting for you." Kakashi-sensei said, and Sakura heard herself make a small sound of alarm and confusion. "Come along." He tilted his head, and Sakura shook herself and ran to join him as he turned and began to walk up the hill deeper into the training ground. He rested a hand on her shoulder and Sakura sighed, relaxing a little.

"Sorry I'm- late, sensei?" Sakura said, tone uncertain despite herself.

"You aren't." Kakashi-sensei assured her, and Sakura hummed, confused. She looked up at him. Kakashi-sensei said nothing more on the topic, however, merely guided her back to the same field they had been working in the day before, then nudged her gently away and told her to get to her warm-up stretches.

"How much of your new book did you read after I sent you home?" Kakashi-sensei asked as he sank to the grass, stretching in a manner that looked almost lazy despite the extreme bow of his body. Sakura eyed him and knew it was physically _possible_ but . . . wondered.

"Ah!" Sakura bit her lip, twisting to loosen a muscle at her waist. "A . . . few . . . chapters?" she said, glancing sideways at Kakashi-sensei.

Kakashi-sensei laughed, a soft, warm tone that made her relax again, moving easily through the warmup routine she had been using for several years. "Very good. How far, _exactly_?" he questioned, and before she had time to answer him- "No, not like that," Kakashi-sensei said, one hand landing on her forearm and the other splaying over her shoulder blade, "you'll tighten yourself up over here," he tapped her ribs on the opposite side, "this is better."

Sakura relaxed and let her sensei guide her movements, and pushed a bit when she hit a stiff point, and it was uncomfortable, but she could feel the easier breaths she was taking in the pose. "Thank you, sensei." Sakura said, tilting her head to smile at him as he stepped back. She continued to push in the direction he had nudged her into until she felt the strain outweigh the release in her muscles, then eased off.

"I, ah, stopped in- in chapter three." Sakura said, glancing at Kakashi-sensei and pausing before she bent into another stretch, closing her eyes and taking a breath.

"Uzu no Kuni." Kakashi-sensei said softly, and Sakura's breath caught. She'd been surprised to see it, knowing so much of Uzushiogakure had been lost. Kakashi-sensei rested a hand on her spine. "Further, but arch, here," he rubbed over her back with two fingers, "not like that. It will strain the vertebrae less. What did you think of the differences thus far?"

It took Sakura a moment to realise that he was asking about her book, and not the stretches he was guiding her through altering. "Ah! The, well, the jutsu are so . . . similar? But the styles. . ."

"Konohagakure is the largest and oldest of the hidden villages," Kakashi-sensei told her, nodding approvingly as she settled on the grass and stretched out her legs, almost mirroring her, "and," he paused, his eye dark and for once not heavy-lidded, though he wasn't looking at her, "we were the home of the Uchiha Clan for . . . a long time."

Sakura stilled for a moment, toes curling and muscles tensing unhappily. ". . .ah."

"Many clans came to join Konohagakure, and from further than any later village can boast." Kakashi-sensei's voice was low and steady. Sakura listened, and kept her eyes on his hands rather than his face, solid but bony and thin, and, Sakura knew - thinking of battles in which Kakashi-sensei had fought hard to protect . . . all three of them, then - incredibly fast. He was _always_ fast when he shaped jutsu, no matter how simple they were. "It gave our village a broader range of styles, and affinities, though of course katon has always been most common."

"Hi no Kuni." Sakura said, nodding understanding.

"Precisely." Kakashi-sensei nodded, folding his legs and arching backwards. "The Uchiha with their Sharingan . . . brought back new jutsu for their clan, and once they signed the accords with Konohagakure, to share with their comrades, their students."

Sakura swallowed and tried not to think of dark, dark eyes, narrow and sharp and closed off. Broken, she had begun to think quietly over the past weeks.

Kakashi-sensei rose again in a neat, twisting motion and Sakura followed suit with slightly less grace. He caught her by the shoulder as she began to move again, and showed her a new stretch she had never used before. Sakura was a bit wobbly as she began, but she trusted her sensei's hands to keep her steady until she had the trick of it.

She looked up at his masked chin, all she could see of his face as she bent. "As- As you do, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked tentatively. "The jutsu?"

Kakashi-sensei made a grumbling sort of noise in his throat, and Sakura blinked. "I do. At times . . . when there are those worth sharing, and those who wish to learn them. Many ninja, Sakura-chan, sort out their personal styles and do not wish to vary them once they have settled into the framework."

Sakura frowned as she straightened again, and braced her hands on her hips. "That's foolish. Doesn't it _weaken_ you, not to consider diversifying? Adding new things? To change your style and widen your base as you hone your abilities can only make you more effective, can't it? Harder to figure out? To counter? How can it be considered-" she broke off, blushing, and bowed her head, as she heard herself. "Sorry, I-"

A light touch brushed her hair. "Don't be sorry." Kakashi-sensei laughed. "Clever. It is. It is also difficult, constantly re-evaluating your own style and strengths, slotting new things into your abilities, figuring out the best way to work them together."

". . .it's what you do. Not just the Sharingan, it's. . ." Sakura hesitated, running through her mind battles both serious and silly, the spars she had seen Kakashi-sensei participate in with his contemporaries and the way he had faced off against _them_ , singly or grouped together, when they had been a team, and. . . "Improvisation. Is your. . ."

"Being unpredictable can keep you alive." Kakashi-sensei said softly, his knuckles brushing her cheek. "The unexpected is hard for your enemies to guard against. As I believe _you_ have found. And used." He gave her an arch look and Sakura blinked, then grinned. She _had_ , hadn't she? It had sometimes been when she was most pressed, and frightened, and thought herself sure to die regardless of what she did . . . but she had fought, and she had kept herself together, putting together new ideas and surprising her opponents.

And she had kept herself _alive_ , even when she didn't win.

Kakashi-sensei smiled at her, his eye creasing, and Sakura hummed happily, nodding.

Kakashi-sensei squeezed her shoulder. "Don't hold back what you think with me." he told her, and Sakura blinked up at him. "You're _smart_ , Sakura-chan, and it's the best tool you have. And," his eye closed again, "it's my duty to hone that as well as everything else."

Sakura nodded slowly. Kakashi-sensei never _had_ been upset with questions, she thought, not that she could really think of a time he had been _irritated_ with them in general. Not-

Not except when the boys had seriously fought one another, or ignored his warnings entirely. Sakura shuddered, but put them both out of her mind resolutely, raising her gaze to Kakashi-sensei's face again. "Yes, sensei."

Kakashi-sensei patted her shoulder, then nudged her away to guide her through an exercise that left her a little achy and breathless. While she was coming down from the exertion, he quizzed her on what she had learned from the book thus far, and as soon as she was steady again, it was back up and being put through accuracy drills. And he was still asking her questions about jutsu, and _theory_ , and affinities and styles and-

Sakura struggled a little to focus, to keep it all straight in her head even as she kept moving - and she was determined not to falter, not in _either_ task.

By the time Kakashi-sensei called a break, Sakura felt a little like her head was spinning, and she hadn't realised how tired her muscles were until she began to tremble. Kakashi-sensei handed her a bottle of water, and she found herself draining it perhaps a little too quickly as she settled cross-legged on the ground.

After a moment she groaned and began to stretch, unfolding her legs and bending forwards over them, knowing that if she didn't she would only regret it. She was a little startled when Kakashi-sensei patted her back, and glanced up at him, but he was already walking away, moving into a complex kata she didn't recognise.

Sakura watched him while she finished her stretches, then flopped down on her back gracelessly.

"Take another ten minutes," Kakashi-sensei said, and Sakura's eyes snapped open to find him standing over her, slouched lazily as though he hadn't just been going through poses Sakura wasn't sure she could _ever_ duplicate, "and then we'll go for a run."

Sakura swallowed a groan and nodded. "Yes, Kakashi-sensei."

He gave her a smile as he sat down nearby. "After that we'll start some practical work with your new jutsu knowledge." he warned her, and Sakura grinned.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi-sensei was as good as his word - and as demanding as Sakura had anticipated. He kept her working hard with breaks just long enough to catch her breath and ease her muscles between tasks, right up to lunch and a longer break . . . somewhat. As she was resting after eating, Kakashi-sensei not only quizzed her again on everything she knew about jutsu and chakra usage, he branched off into things she had never even _considered_.

Sakura focused on committing everything to memory, asking questions when Kakashi-sensei paused and applying the new lessons to what she already knew, trying to make deeper sense of it all.

After half an hour's rest he had her up again, and they went for another run. This time Kakashi-sensei kept talking while they were running, and Sakura, struggling to keep up with him while he wasn't even a little out of breath, set yet another marker for how far she had to go.

It wasn't exactly discouraging - Kakashi-sensei was a jounin, and Sakura had learned enough now to know that he was one of the best - but it was _exhausting_ . . . and a little daunting. Sakura swore to herself she'd get there.

Kakashi-sensei definitely seemed to be expecting her to, and Sakura was determined to live up to his expectations and her own dreams.

Her legs were weak by the time she made her way home in the gathering dusk, and she fell asleep before dinner. She smiled and assured her mother she was fine over the meal, helped with the dishes, then went back upstairs to make notes on what she had learned from Kakashi-sensei today, then read another chapter of her new book before she went to sleep.

The day set the tone for the rest of the week. Sakura wasn't so surprised the next morning when Kakashi-sensei was waiting for her - and no matter how early she arrived, he was waiting when she got to training ground thirteen every day.

The first surprise was on the fifth day, when Sakura pulled out her bento for lunch, but before she could open it, Kakashi-sensei plonked another on top of it. Sakura protested - she always brought her own lunch, and Kakashi-sensei _knew_ that - but Kakashi-sensei insisted, and she finally opened it to find it held at least thrice as much food as she had made for herself. While it was piled with vegetables, there was also a solid helping of rice - at least twice or more what she would have served herself - and meat.

Kakashi-sensei waited expectantly and prompted her until she finished all of it, which was far more than she should have eaten, Sakura thought, but. . .

But she had wolfed it all down in about the same time she'd been eating the bento she packed herself, all the same, and almost felt like she could have eaten more. But she wasn't _starving_ , as she had been every afternoon.

"Back to work, Sakura-chan!" Kakashi-sensei instructed, and Sakura climbed to her feet and followed him obediently, as she did every day.

By the end of the week she wasn't quite so shaky when she was running home after training, though she still barely managed to bathe, read another chapter - Kakashi-sensei always quizzed her and worked through it with her the next day - eat dinner, and help out a little at home before she collapsed into bed.

She was _happy_ , though - she was learning, and she knew she was _already_ getting better, and would have even without Kakashi-sensei telling her so . . . but Kakashi-sensei telling her she was learning well made her even more determined to live up to his praise. To earn more of it.

Sakura tucked herself up cosily in her bed and determined to reread some of the earlier chapters in her book before reading on, tonight. Kakashi-sensei had been told to report in to the Hokage tomorrow, and sent her home early this afternoon with orders to sleep late in the morning, so she had a little more time, and for now she could think of no better way to use it.

* * *

 **Announcement:** As I have ceased posting my new works here on FFN (there are a range of oneshots with a similar theme to this story I have written recently, among other things that have not been posted to FFN) further updates to this story may not make it to FFN. It _will_ be continued, on AO3, as it has been, either way.


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